Update: Thanks to Mike for pointing us in the direction of the school’s website you can check out for yourself right here.
Does Werner Herzog ever sleep? With two movies out this year — the trippy “Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans” and the sort-of-based-on-a-true-story freakout “My Son, My Son What Have Ye Done” — and the release of his book, Conquest Of The Useless, a compilation of his diary entries during the troubled making of “Fitzcarraldo,” you would think the guy might at least take a nap. But no sir, Herzog continues to plug away at enough projects to make Steven Soderbergh and Clint Eastwood blush.
One of his latest endeavors revealed during an interview with Vice, will be opening his own film school. We’re not talking about some kind of affiliated university program where Herzog will come in, chat about films to young students who have no idea who he is and then collect his paycheck. Nope, instead these will be weekend seminars in various locations where presumably you will have some kind of hands on, one-on-one workshops with the man himself. Awesome. But getting into this thing won’t be easy. According to Herzog, there is going to be a prerequisite syllabus before anyone can join. An example? How does Virgil’s Georgics sound to you? So do you get in? Actually, the process is fairly straightforward. Herzog doesn’t care about your credentials saying prior experience and diplomas is of “minor importance”. Instead, the “About Myself” field in the application will be the very important as he wants to have a concise idea of who you are and why you are applying. You’ll need to be able to shoot and edit a short film as part of the application, and submit it on DVD. He’ll also need a $25 application fee on top of that. If your application is selected you’ll have to pony up $1450 for the seminar.
No word yet on when registration starts or even what Herzog’s school will be called, but the name of the institution is going to be so awesome, he’s looking to trademark it before he reveals what it is. Currently operating under the pretty lame title Rogue Film School, there is no word is Herzog’s much cooler, more trademark worthy name is on the way. The first seminar takes place in Los Angeles from January 8-10, 2010. The aforementioned application deadline is November 13th, but if you’re not in the area, more seminars are being planned for the East Coast, Chicago and Florida.
We have to say, a film seminar with Herzog sounds completely awesome. Just check out some of the totally bonkers selections from the eleven-point “About” section of the website:
8. Related, but more practical subjects, will be the art of lockpicking. Traveling on foot. The exhilaration of being shot at unsuccessfully. The athletic side of filmmaking. The creation of your own shooting permits. The neutralization of bureaucracy. Guerrilla tactics. Self reliance.
9. Censorship will be enforced. There will be no talk of shamans, of yoga classes, nutritional values, herbal teas, discovering your Boundaries, and Inner Growth.
11. Follow your vision. Form secretive Rogue Cells everywhere. At the same time, be not afraid of solitude.
We love you Werner.
As for actual movies, Herzog says he has about five or six different projects on the go, though the rumored adaptation of “The Piano Tuner” is not one of them. His current double dose of celluloid oddities are doing the festival rounds but don’t have any firm release dates as of yet.
